Musicians are different. Not different like athletes are different, or like painters are different – but different from those who are different. Making music literally sounds like it is too much fun, which is sometimes a gross error in perception – sometimes it is profoundly sad, other times it is profoundly inspiring, still other times it is profoundly illuminating. But the true art of making music is always profound in some way.
Fortunately, there is an allied profession that provides a similar result, and that is why most musicians wind up teaching music. When an individual devotes the majority of her life to making music and teaching it, those profound emotions become inextricably intertwined. Old music teachers never die, “they just misplace their notes”, so to speak.
This study, Segue, is a multiple case study of four teacher/musicians. Two of the participants are veteran teachers who had already left the profession, one left before the completion of this study, and their cases are examined as well as a fourth, who has been forced to delay retirement. In this study, the effects of retirement on the first three individuals are assessed, while the other teacher has been observed to note changes in attitudes and behaviors now that her retirement has been delayed. In all cases, these “rites of passage” were examined within the context of changes in music education praxis, as well as their impact on the other significant stakeholders in the process, including students, colleagues, and affected communities. The study illustrates that music teachers, as a group, remain committed to making music after retirement, at its base, for their own aesthetic needs, but also for sharing music with others, and their continued contributions to music education in multiple forms promotes a sense of value to the individual, as well as a sense of cherishing from the community.